Noted multi-platinum producer and songwriter Paul O’Duffy is utilizing an Audient iD22 USB AD/DA interface and monitoring system in his north London studio, primarily citing the unit’s transparency and ease of use.
“I don’t want to hear it coloring the sound too much,” he says, explaining how he’s been using the iD22 to record lead vocals and also as an interface to mix through. “I want the flexibility to color the sound elsewhere post or pre. The iD22 is very clean to record through, as is the monitoring output options which has gotten rid of my external monitor selector, giving me a direct, truer signal path to my preferred KRK VXT8 monitors and my old NS10s.”
O’Duffy’s career started in the late 1980s, and he has a glittering back catalog of credits, including Swing Out Sister, John Barry, Dusty Springfield, Was Not Was, Lewis Taylor, Amy Winehouse, and most recently, new talents including Ella Eyre, Charlotte OC, Will Heard and Purple Ferdinand.
His studio – located in his home – is primaritly used for writing, recording vocals, mixing, keys and guitars as well as smaller overdubs, and the iD22 is proving to be a great fit. “The design is very clear and functional,” he says. “You taste with the eyes, the quality of the finish from the metal casing to the aluminum volume knob suggests that what’s inside will conform to this same design philosophy, and I’m happy to say it does.”
“When deciding to upgrade my interface I made a short list of the main features most important to me: clean sounding ‘Class A’ preamps, a minimum of two multi inputs and a balanced insert point for external analogue compression/efx before digital conversion, ADAT light pipe to connect to my analog setup for more inputs when required and a balanced monitor output if possible; oh, and the given of very low latency.
“The iD22 offers all of that in one sweet little box—yes, there are some others (competitors) that are close in spec on some features and functionality, but not all had what I was looking for in the same box. This interface more than meets my requirements.”
O’Duffy adds that he’s working mostly ‘in the box’ as much as possible these days. “It gives me the flexibility to take a project elsewhere and recreate my set-up fairly easily. For the first time recently, I found myself comping performances in my laptop on a plane and wondered how much gear would I have needed to do the same thing 20 years earlier? A lot—and my own jet!” he laughs.
